Well it don't look like much yet, but there's a lot of handcut dovetails in this. I just hope it doesn't end up being the "Leaning tower of drawers" . Getting everything square with something this big is not easy.

Had a confusion factor on this today, regarding a detail of the top drawer divider face on the lower case, so emailed Glen, and got a prompt answer that cleared it up. Apparently the drawing was in error, which caused me to question the dimensions and assembly of this part. Many thanks to Glen for clearing this up, and now I can proceed. I sure do appreciate this kind of help from the pro's.

Moral of the story: Don't be shy about asking for help from them, when you're stumped or confused.

Glen, I'm working on the Penn Chest on Chest from your book ( Building Period Furniture ), and have a bit of confusion I hope you can help me with. It concerns the top divider face on the lower case ( it. H in the cutlist on page 51 ). Dim. are given as 3/4" x 1 9/16". In Step 11 on pg 55 it shows part H attached to part G such that the face grain is towards the front, which I assume is the intent, but that means the 1 9/16" dim is vertical forming an "L" with the top divider. Going back to the drawing on pg. 50 this does not seem correct. Is the 1 9/16" dimension correct, or is the drawing in error? Also, in the pic on pg 48 it seems that a portion of part H is hidden by the molding?

Hey Gene,

The measurements are correct while the drawing is in error. The 1-9/16" is facing the front and is still seen after the mouldings are applied.

Build Something Great!Glen D. Huey

Here's the drawing. The parts in question were items "G" and "H". Part "H" is shown incorrectly. The detail instructions and cutlist are correct.

_________________Gene

Last edited by Gene on Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If part H is still exposed (with G behind it) once the moldings are applied, where does part CC fit?

I haven't gotten that far yet, but I believe CC is part of the facing for the upper section. A small bit of it would show, just below the dentil and crown molding, and gives something for that molding to be attached to. See the frontal view pic just to the right of the top section. That said, I won't be doing the dentil or crown molding anyway due to LOML requested design changes, so that piece will have some other treatment applied.

Been working on the internals and drawer dividers for the lower section all morning and will post an update later today, maybe.

Got the drawer runners done, still need to install them. These are 2 piece runners (3 per side ) mortised into the drawer dividers in front and secured with 1 screw on the back end - no glue - to allow for movement of the side panels, since there's a cross grain situation with these once the runners are installed. Important to use a story stick or something to make sure the front and back ends of each pair of runners is exactly the same height. Also glued on the vertical front pieces. The bottom runners are held in place in the front with wood clips; again, to allow movement.

Wow! Great project. It was nice to hear that Glen was open to questions. I have a copy of his book as well. Good book.

Good luck, I will be looking for the progress.

Thanks,

James

_________________The ancient Greeks and Romans used raw talent and man power I use all the help I can get from Mr. INCRA, Mr. Swissmade, Mr Grizzly and all fellow woodworkers. All fine souls if I say so myself.

The transition frame is an important part of this. It's primary function is to allow the upper and lower cases to move independently of each other while still maintaining a secure attachment between them. The pic shows how this is done with wood clips that are mortised into the sides of the lower case and screwed into the frame. These pics shows the case upside down with the frame resting on the bench. When I get the frame decorative edge routed (waiting on another bit ), and the upper case assembled it will be attached to the frame in the same manner. You don't want the clips to be so tight that they restrict cross grain movement so a slightly loose fit of the clip tenons should be done. The mortises can be cut with a chisel as I did or with a biscuit joiner if you're rich and lucky enough to have one. Just be careful how deep you go. Don't want to mortise clean thru the side. The mortises should also be about twice as long as the clip is wide, and the clip centered in them. Also a little waxing of the frame and the clip tenons helps to reduce any drag.

The back of the frame ( on the left in the pic ) should extend far enough to hide the case back boards when they are installed. The transition frame itself is assembled with miter joints at the front end and m/t at the back end.

Made a of bunch of clips while I was at it - never know when they might come in handy.

The bottom runners are held in place in the front with wood clips; again, to allow movement.

Why aren't they also mortised into the front divider? I think part EE in the diagram. You are speaking of the upper section here, correct?

Nope this is all the lower section case work at this point.

The bottom drawer runners (part P ) could be mortised in to part "F" ( lower section ), but I screwed up, so the clips were needed. Not the same clips as I'm talking about for the transition frame.

I learned from that mistake and the lower drawer runners for the upper casework will be mortised into the divider. This will be part "KK" into part "EE"

But in this picture:

The strip of wild grain walnut that the clips are attached to will be attached to the upper section of the chest?

The strip of "wild grain walnut" is part of the transition frame - parts "V, W, and U ". That assembly is what the clips in the most recent pic are attached to with screws. Keep in mind that the entire lower section and frame is upside down in this pic, primarily to facilitate alignment of the transition frame with the top of the lower section. I think it will become somewhat clearer when I get the upper section complete and attached.

Got the drawer runners done, still need to install them. These are 2 piece runners (3 per side ) mortised into the drawer dividers in front and secured with 1 screw on the back end - no glue - to allow for movement of the side panels, since there's a cross grain situation with these once the runners are installed. Important to use a story stick or something to make sure the front and back ends of each pair of runners is exactly the same height. Also glued on the vertical front pieces. The bottom runners are held in place in the front with wood clips; again, to allow movement.

Gene, the front of these dividers appears recessed from the strip added to cover up dovetails on the case front. Is that true or just an optical illusion? Typically I notch the drawer blades so that the front is flush with case front once the strip is glued in place.

Rtcat, yes the front of the divider edges in this pic are not even with the sides. Reason is that I hadn't yet glued on face grain strips across the front edge of the dividers. That's been done and now everything is in the same plane.

The transitional frame ( as opposed to the transitional molding ) will hold the upper and lower sections together as described in the previous reply to Dan. Additional molding - part "UU" in the drawing - will be added to force any wood movement towards the back, and will also hide the dovetails on the upper section side panels. Haven't done that yet, but when I do, it will all become clear - I promise .

This is a complicated piece, and I'm learning as I go, so bear with me. So far I've only made one significant error; let's hope that's the only one.

As good as Glen's instructions are, there are still a couple things that I've had to infer, that I'm sure he assumed would be known by anyone attempting this kind of project. It's not exactly something a beginner would want to tackle.

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